Therapist raises concern over asbestos in San Mateo school

SAN MATEO Her classroom had it, despite what a 2005 report said

asbestos_157.JPG
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old classroom where asbestos was discovered. The classroom is locked up now.
Victoria DeLuca, a speach therapist at Highland Elementary School in San Mateo, thought the pipes in her classroom might contain asbestos. After the district tested them, she did her own tests and found high amounts of asbestos. Unfortunately the district failed to remove the teacher and kids for 11 days after they found out DeLuca's suspicions were true.
{By Brant Ward/San Francisco Chronicle}12/18/07
Ran on: 12-21-2007
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old Highlands Elementary School classroom, where asbestos was discovered.
Ran on: 12-21-2007 Ran on: 12-21-2007
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old Highlands Elementary School classroom, where asbestos was discovered. less

asbestos_157.JPG
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old classroom where asbestos was discovered. The classroom is locked up now.
Victoria DeLuca, a speach therapist at Highland Elementary School in San ... more

Photo: Brant Ward

Photo: Brant Ward

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asbestos_157.JPG
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old classroom where asbestos was discovered. The classroom is locked up now.
Victoria DeLuca, a speach therapist at Highland Elementary School in San Mateo, thought the pipes in her classroom might contain asbestos. After the district tested them, she did her own tests and found high amounts of asbestos. Unfortunately the district failed to remove the teacher and kids for 11 days after they found out DeLuca's suspicions were true.
{By Brant Ward/San Francisco Chronicle}12/18/07
Ran on: 12-21-2007
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old Highlands Elementary School classroom, where asbestos was discovered.
Ran on: 12-21-2007 Ran on: 12-21-2007
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old Highlands Elementary School classroom, where asbestos was discovered. less

asbestos_157.JPG
Victoria DeLuca stands in front of her old classroom where asbestos was discovered. The classroom is locked up now.
Victoria DeLuca, a speach therapist at Highland Elementary School in San ... more

Photo: Brant Ward

Therapist raises concern over asbestos in San Mateo school

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Speech therapist Victoria DeLuca thought the exposed ceiling pipes in her new classroom looked funny - kind of bumpy and old despite a fresh coat of paint.

She was right. The old heating ducts in her Highlands Elementary School classroom were wrapped in asbestos - a condition missed during a federally required inspection in 2005 when the San Mateo school was given a clean bill of asbestos health.

San Mateo-Foster City School District officials say they followed the rules for dealing with the dangerous material, but the incident raises questions about whether they did everything they could to protect the students and staff.

DeLuca said on Aug. 28 she asked Principal Mary Pat O'Connell to have the severed and exposed pipe tested.

On Oct. 5, a district worker snapped off a piece of the pipe's insulation while the speech teacher was present. DeLuca said he cut the pipe without using any protective gear, possibly sending asbestos fibers into the air.

The district used the HB&T Environmental firm to test the pipe insulation - the same company that reported no asbestos in the school in 2005.

According to Environmental Protection Agency documents, school officials are strongly encouraged to avoid conflicts of interest related to asbestos inspection, testing and abatement, including the use of the same company to fulfill various federal requirements.

District officials received a report on Oct. 26 saying that the pipes contained the carcinogenic material, DeLuca said, but 11 days passed before school officials told her the news and assigned her and her special needs students to another room. The affected room remains closed.

"That's 11 days we were continuing to be poisoned," said DeLuca, who has been with the district more than 20 years. She said she has about 30 students, divided into small groups, that meet with her twice a week.

District officials couldn't explain the delay, but emphasized that health and safety are priorities.

"It's important that people know that our district is committed to having a safe environment for our students and staff," said Assistant Superintendent Joan Rosas. "It is our intention to do a good job."

Asbestos fibers, if inhaled, can lead to serious lung illnesses such as lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Medical experts said it can take 20 years or more for symptoms to appear.

As soon as DeLuca found out the ducts contained asbestos, she undertook her own testing by wiping a rag across shelves and her equipment - which she said always had a layer of dust despite her best efforts to keep the small room clean.

On Dec. 5, the results came back. The dust contained significant levels of the dangerous asbestos fibers.

"The wipe sample sets alarm bells," said Arnold Den, a senior science adviser with the federal Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco.

Den, an asbestos specialist not involved in the Highlands case, reviewed DeLuca's test results at The Chronicle's request and concluded, "It's on the high side."

The dust sample showed 610,000 asbestos structures per square centimeter. Anything over 10,000 is probably a "bit of a warning," Den said.

Over 100,000 is a real concern, he said.

Rosas said the district received those lab results last week and is reviewing them.

"At this point, we don't know what they mean and what they mean for us and what we need to do with them," Rosas said.

While federal regulations include standards for airborne asbestos after abatement, there are no official guidelines for acceptable/unacceptable levels of asbestos in settled dust, and schools aren't required to test such material. That doesn't mean it isn't dangerous.

Any kind of activity in the room - children playing, a fan blowing, cleaning - can kick that dust up.

"The kids still could have gotten an exposure on it," Den said.

Before and after the pipes were removed, the district ordered air samples while the room was still. The results showed no detectable airborne asbestos.

Accordingly, Principal O'Connell sent a letter to parents on Nov. 14 advising them asbestos was found at the school, but that she was "greatly relieved" no fibers were found in the air samples from the speech room.

But the district again used HB&T Environmental to conduct those subsequent air samples - another apparent conflict of interest.

Sterling lists H. Brian Hoppe as its representative, according to the California secretary of state's office. HB&T lists Harold W. Hoppe. Neither company returned calls requesting comment, although a receptionist at Sterling said the two are father and son.

The EPA's Den said given the high levels of asbestos in the dust, the district should conduct aggressive air samples, stirring up any dust with a leaf blower and fans to measure asbestos levels before allowing children or staff back in the room.

DeLuca said since she found out the pipes were asbestos she's been in a panic, not knowing how much she breathed in or whether she will have long-term health problems related to her exposure.

DeLuca filed a complaint with Cal/OSHA, which opened an investigation Nov. 6.

But the veteran teacher said her primary concern is getting accurate information to the families of her students.